News

Fri Jun 8

Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President Pushes LADOTD to Widen I-12 Now

Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President Pushes LADOTD to Widen I-12 Now

Pat Brister, St. Tammany Parish President met today with LADOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson and members of his staff to press the Secretary, and Governor John Bel Edwards, to improve the I-12 corridor in St. Tammany. Parish President Brister felt it was important to meet face to face with the Secretary to lay out a plan to accomplish the much-needed I-12 widening project, as well as propose short-term solutions to improve safety in the area.

“I went in to the meeting with three clear objectives,” said Brister. “First, the Parish and State will each work towards the same goal of securing funding for this project, and once funding becomes available, the State will guarantee that this project is first in line for that funding. Second, I asked for Sec. Wilson’s commitment that the design for the widening would continue to completion, to make this priority project shovel-ready when funding is identified. Third, to formally request the State work collaboratively on a joint infrastructure grant application for federal funding to be submitted in July. I am pleased to say that we have gotten these assurances from the Secretary.”

Brister went on to say, “I requested that LADOTD immediately institute short-term safety solutions. We asked that their engineers take the necessary steps to install flashing lights and signage alerting motorist of traffic backups, as well as the other safety improvements they identified in their Road Safety Assessment from 2013, that have yet to be implemented.”

Parish President Brister is also in conversations with the Congressional Delegation to help obtain funding commitments for this critical project. She has repeatedly stated that this project should be void of all politics, but instead be based on data, need and safety.